Just put 1200 miles on the RL the last couple of days. Just wanted to share that the car returned an average of 26.5 mpg over all, and as high as 28 on one tank using mid grade. I find that mid grade gas returns great mileage. Anyone get more than 28 mpg? What do you do to get more mpg?

 

Use premium, cruise control. and go from VA to SC get 29+ on PAX tires. Switching to UHPAS tires kind of kills the the mpg.

 

2005 RL
Just drove from Bay Area up to Oregon and back. Always use Premium. Never got more than 25 mph on any tank and used cruise most of time. At 75+ my car just will not get 25mph. At 80, its barely 20mph. Similar on all other trips.
Not complaining, just stating.

 

I just drove 500 miles yesterday and got 28mpg.

 

My RL runs rough and gets WORSE mileage on mid grade. It idles rough.

Getting 22.5 city/highway combo..

 

Tires make a huge difference.
I went from the OEM Michelin (non-PAX) to Continental DWS and i lost 1-2MPG at least, maybe more.
On average, with a mix of HWY and city driving, i usually get around 20mpg.
Mostly freeway, i will get 24mpg, maybe even 25mpg, but never more.

With the OEM Michelins, this number was 27-28mpg.

 

Low rolling friction tires FTW with gas mileage. That's likely one reason Honda stuck with those crappy stock tires on the RL.

 

maybe because your tires have no usable tread for any sort of friction left.

I was hitting 24mpg yesterday with the kinda driving that puts me to sleep.

 

yes, good for gas mileage but not really for any sort of spirited driving.

the kinda tires I wouldn't trust in the rain.

Then again, you can always crawl 20mph like everyone else...

 

i get about 450km (not miles) off a full tank on 91. city/hwy driving.

 

im avg like 20mpg lol. all city w/ stop and go. i never use highways.

 

I ONCE got 30.1 MPG average from Philly to Atlantic City. Must have had a tailwind because I usually get 28 or so highway and 18 - 20 around town.

LL

 

New York city driving I'm lucky to get 12MPG.

City driving is not created equal. Is it possible for everyone to post their average speed and tires (and size) along with MPG to put it into perspective?

 

these are brand new tires i have on..

 

To be fair, that drive has some serious elevation changes, California gas is limited to 91 octane.

I've done the drive from Portland to Clear Lake, California in my '02 RL and got 25 mpg overall.

 

My one does 34-36 mpg on motorways, while driven steady, using Cruise Control with 70 mph top speed, on Petrol 95. Once I was observing 39 mpg for about 20 minutes, also on motorway. The urban drive isn't that economical 14-17 mpg.

 

I have the original set of Michelins on the car for what ever that is worth. I did see for a stretch of a couple of hundred miles 29.0 mpg, but as I got past Sacramento towards Redding, the mileage started to drop off slowly. I figured it is because it is slowly climbing in elevation from the delta towards the mountains.

I also know that it is time for the winter blend to come to the gas stations after the summer which burns a lot different.

City driving is so different because of the stop/go activity that you will be on the gas and off the gas. This burns a lot more fuel over all. I put the trans in to 1-3 and that lets me go just fast enough around town limiting the shifting.

 

Agree that there are some elevation issues.
However, I've tested my mpg numerous times on the long flat section of the San Mateo Bridge which I drive every day. MPG is high 20s at 65 mph and goes down at any speed above that. It struggles to hit 21/22 mpg at 80.

 

with 17-20 mpg, my avg speed is 24mph

 

Once on the highway, I average in the high 20's on the way to work, and about 18 on the way home (home being uphill from the office on the average). On a fresh tank near the freeway, I regularly average 27.7mpg on the tank for my first drive to the office, and then my average slowly descends to my typical 18.9 to 19.4 on the tank.

For me, freeway speeds to the office are generally cruise control at 80, and a mix of 80 and stop-n-go to get home.

On a drive from San Diego to Vegas, we averaged the whole tank over 24mpg. Always Super (91) in the tank.

 

I always use 91 gas. I just traveled 200mi yesterday and on the full gas tank i got around 31mpg for hwy but for local, it is around 20mpg. pretty good if you tell me your car is 300hp with 150k miles on it

 

sounds pretty crazy if you ask me. If I see 22mpg on the highway I am happy...

around town, anything over 12mpg is a cause for celebration.

 

 

may want to draw up a Pivot table so you can track mileage by gas brand. Just to see if there's a trend.

 

24 - 28 mph highway is pretty good give the weight of the RL.

If I'm trying to max my mileage, I try to:

1) Best octane gas without ethanol
2) Low resistance tires at 36 p.s.i.
3) Clean air filter
4) Recent injector cleaning
5) AC off
6) Cruise control between 65mph and 70 mph.

7) Hog the back of a tractor and trailer in the draft.

 

@ #7 that's how you crack your fog lights..... lol

 

tail gating a tractor trailer...could never find a reason to do that or understand people who do. I guess to save on fuel

 

stop and go, 28 mph avg. = about 16.8 mpg .. it blows

 

I'm getting bout 21mpg on a 180mi trip with average speed around 74mph

 

if there is no stop and go in there, that is about 3 to 6 MPG low based on a 6500 mile trip we just got back from. Overall mileage was just under 25 and most of our driving was 70 - 80 MPH.

 

well, to get average of 74mph I generally go 90...so that would probably explain the mileage drop.

6500mi trip is no joke...wouldn't do it in anything less than an RL

 

Any car will suffer at 90 mph but 21 mpg is low unless it was all uphill.

Our trip was long as we had to attend a funeral on the other coast and airplane seats that are 16" wide are a pain when combined with airport delays and TSA. It took 3 1/4 days each way and we slept every night along the way. My brother flew and it took him 2 days each direction so we got to see the country and a nice change of seasons for the one extra day each way it took. Was worth it although the 2006 RL is a bumpy nervous car without a hood compared to my old '92 and '95 Legends. There are days I hate the way this RL feels. Changing lanes is hard too as the mirrors don't pivot out enough.

 

one of us has a lead foot.

Not sure how RL is a bumpy car as when stock, my car was super plush. Had to fix that with higher performance tires and H&R springs.

 

This one feels as stiff as my CJ7 did almost. Has General Exclaim UHP tires on it (noisy as going heel and toe wear)but is a standard suspension. I have not read part numbers on the springs and shocks but there is nothing pointing to anything but stock.

 

you can try an all season tire such as Continental DWS, I found them to be much softer vs Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. I doubt you'll get the same traction benefit of a summer tire but they are definitely softer. I do have to say that the Pilots felt quieter.

 

If i was worry about MPG, i would get me a 1.6 liter Sedan Civic .
My Rl goes highways 80% of the time , Speed 74 - 87 for Aver. 21 - 23mpg.

 

Just as a side note, I couldn't find my other thread about spark plugs...but I changed out the plugs last night at 60,000 miles. The NGK Laser tips Iridiums looked great. I wanted Nippon Denso, but there isn't anyone close that I could buy them from. So I put in a new set of NGK Iridium Laser tips. After a quick test drive last night the car was noticeably smoother on idle and quicker on the acceleration. We are off to Palm Springs this week, so I will report back on the mileage on each tank of the trip.

 

Just did an 880 mile trip in 12 hours 15 minutes. Atlanta, GA to North Jersey. Got 26.4 mpg by the trip computer but I calculate more like 25.5 using miles/gallons filled. Running on Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires. And my first tank of gas had ethanol in it because that is what Costco sells now in Atlanta. That full tank got me from GA through SC and NC and I nearly reached VA before I had to stop for gas.

I was averaging about 70- 75 mph but I did accelerate hard every so often to get clear of slow drivers hogging the left lane or large trailers.

Just love the RL on long road trips. Will be doing the same trip in reverse in a Lexus Coupe soon so let's see how that goes.

 

I ran two tanks through the RL today. The first tank was 27.2 and the 2nd tank was 27.6 Installing new plugs really made the car feel smooth agai. New plugs is an easy install, just a tag expensive, but well worth the effort.

 

I am currently getting 15.2 in the city now since my rims are off.

before, I wouldn't get pass 11